Brice Marden: Ru Ware, Marbles, Polke

Brice Ru Ware, Marbles, Polke features the most recent paintings from this towering figure in contemporary abstraction. The book’s title alludes to the breadth of Marden’s rare Chinese pottery, coarse Greek marble and the late German artist Sigmar Polke. Each of the works or series in this volume stems from these the Ru Ware Project (2007–2012), composed of nine small panels painted in pale blues and greens; 15 new paintings in oil on marble, which Marden completed on the Greek island of Hydra in 2012; and a large oil-on-linen painting, "Polke Letter" (2010–2011), a painterly homage to Marden’s contemporary. Helping to pinpoint Marden’s place in the flow of time is an essay by David Anfam, along with a statement written by the artist, an extended meditation on geometry, proportion and color.